No curfew, separatist shutdown in Srinagar

SRINAGAR - Markets were abuzz and people queued up outside ATMs as life returned to its old self in Srinagar on a rare day Saturday.

The development coincided with the separatists asking people to resume routine activities and the authorities deciding not to impose a curfew.

“No curfew or restrictions are in force anywhere in Srinagar city and other major towns of the Kashmir Valley,” a police officer said here.

But restrictions were clamped in south Kashmir’s Pampore town and in Palhalan and Delina in the north, he added.

Hardline separatist Hurriyat group headed by Syed Ali Geelani issued a fresh 10-day protest calendar asking people to observe shutdowns, marches, protests and sit-ins except on the 17th, 20th and 24th of this month.

On these three days, people have been asked to resume normal life.

The separatist shutdowns and calls for protest marches to various places in the valley have prompted authorities to impose curfew many times during the last four months to prevent violence.

Life has badly hit in the valley during this period in which 110 people have lost their lives in clashes between protesters and security forces.

So any normalcy is more than welcome to Srinagar’s residents.

Normalcy is but an occasional episode in Kashmir’s general drama of pain and suffering, rued Naseer Ahmad, a resident here.

On Saturday, shops, banks and businesses were open in Srinagar city though government offices were closed on account of a public holiday.

People were busy shopping in markets buying essentials while long queues formed outside ATMs.